Sanders wins primary in Oregon after finishing neck-and-neck with Clinton in Kentucky







WASHINGTON (AP) — Bernie Sanders won the Democratic presidential primary in Oregon Tuesday night after finishing neck-and-neck with front-runner Hillary Clinton in Kentucky.


The win for Sanders adds to his run of successes in the end stage of the Democratic primaries, but it won't do much to slow Clinton's march toward the nomination.

Even after Tuesday's results, Clinton remains on pace to wrap up the nomination in early June.

Among Sanders' supporters in Oregon was Mary Brewster, a 62-year-old Portland resident.

She says she cast her ballot for Sanders because, she says, "I think we need huge change."

She says that doesn't mean she thinks Sanders would be able to enact all his plans if elected. But she says she wanted to "vote for the things I believed in, and then vote for Hillary in the general election."

Clinton declared victory in Kentucky's presidential primary, but her race with Sanders still remained too close to call.

Clinton said in a statement posted on Twitter that she just won the state's primary and thanks "everyone who turned out." She says, "We're always stronger united."

With nearly all the votes counted, Clinton holds a narrow lead of less than one-half of 1 percent of the vote.

The Sanders campaign is not immediately saying whether it will challenge the results. Kentucky does not have an automatic recount.

Clinton holds a commanding lead of nearly 300 pledged delegates over Sanders and a dominant advantage among party officials and elected leaders known as superdelegates. The outcomes in Tuesday's primaries in Kentucky and Oregon are not expected to change the arc of the Democratic race.

 

Sanders said at a California rally Tuesday night that it appears he will end up with about "half of the delegates" in Kentucky's presidential primary.

Sanders said in Carson, California, that he managed to do well in Kentucky even though the state does not allow independents to vote in the Democratic primary. He also notes that Hillary Clinton defeated then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in Kentucky by a large margin in 2008.

Sanders said many people have suggested that he drop out of the presidential race. But he says he's in the race until the last ballot.

He told supporters Clinton "might get nervous," but he thinks his campaign is "going to win here in California." The nation's largest state holds its primary on June 7.

Donald Trump, who won the Republican primary in Oregon Tuesday night, and the Republican National Committee have signed a joint fundraising agreement that will allow donors to write checks of up to $449,400.

The agreement, announced late Tuesday night, will allow the Trump campaign to raise cash that the national party can spend on both his campaign and other Republican efforts.

The agreement establishes two committees: The Trump Make America Great Again Committee, between the RNC and the Trump campaign, and Trump Victory, which includes the campaign, the RNC and a list of state GOP parties, including Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, New York and Virginia.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus says in a statement money will go toward expanding ground, data and digital operations to elect Republicans "up and down the ballot."